Former Black Stars captain, Asamoah Gyan, has said that the national team was his number priority during his playing days.

Asamoah Gyan, who is Ghana's all-time top scorer with 51 goals, had an illustrious career that saw him play for some of the best clubs in the European elite competitions.

Looking back on his career, the former Sunderland striker has revealed that he had the chance to join giant Manchester City when the Abu Dhabi investors took over the club but he lost the deal due to his commitment to the Black Stars.

“I always say I’m very patriotic. At the time Sheik Mansour had freshly bought Man City and they wanted to sign me,” Gyan told Dan Kwaku Yeboah in an interview.

He added that the citizens then moved on from him to sign Togolese international, Emmanuel Adebayor, in the January transfer window.

“But I had the national team at heart. I chose the national team over everything. That’s why some things pain me and they moved on from me to sign Adebayor from Arsenal."

“People didn’t understand. But I’m sure after this interview they’ll understand why things panned out that way," he added.

Asamoah Gyan led the Black Stars to win bronze at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, which was hosted in Ghana.